The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is holding its annual meeting 14 to 21 November in a hybrid format, both virtually and in person in Vale do Lobo, Portugal.
In the run-up to the meeting, the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) separately published position statements, detailing their requests to the regional fishery management organization. IPNLF promotes sustainable management of responsible pole-and-line, handline, and troll tuna fisheries while safeguarding the livelihoods they support. ISSF is a global coalition of seafood companies, fisheries experts, scientific and environmental organizations, and vessel operators that promotes science-based initiatives for long-term tuna conservation, fish-aggregating device (FAD) management, bycatch mitigation, marine ecosystem health, capacity management, and illegal fishing prevention.
IPNLF is also asking the committee to adopt a precautionary total allowable catch (TAC) for bigeye tuna, despite some signs of a stock recovery, in line with the advice of the ICCAT Standing Committee on Research and Statistics; and to implement a harvest control rule (HCR) for bigeye based on the latest stock assessment. It is also encouraging the commission to look at adopting HCRs for other tropical tunas.
IPNLF also supports an equitable catch allocation that covers all contracting parties to the convention, with an emphasis on protecting the rights of small-scale fisheries in developing coastal states; and to not tie a more-equitable catch distribution to increases into the TAC. IPNLF supports an allocation table proposed by Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Sao Tomé and Principe, and Senegal.
As background to this issue, an organization called CAOPA (African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Organizations) has urged a change in the allocation of fishing access rights for tuna by moving away from the system of historical rights to meet the aspirations of developing countries, while rewarding countries that practice sustainable fishing.